By Pepper Parr
April 16, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
He was young, proud and a little edgy.
Ryan Sgro, owner of three McDonald’s franchises in Burlington is always inches away from his cell phone
I was meeting with Ryan Sgro, owner of three McDonald’s franchises – between Ryan and Ralph Sgro, his Dad, they have 10 McDonald’s franchises in Burlington and Waterdown
It was McDonald’s National Hiring Day and Ryan was talking to me and keeping an eye on the shop at the same time. His eyes would dart back and forth from me to the counter where people placed their orders.
Ryan came out of Western University and went right into the family business. He and his sister are both franchise owners.
Ryan gets the word family into almost everything he says. Franchise managers talk of being with Sgro’s for ten, fifteen and twenty years.
“We hold a Family Day once a year – everyone gets their meal at half price and we take them on tours of everything; the kitchen, the storage room – the kids get to know all about the place where their parents work.
“We hand out two $500 scholarships every year” says Ryan and adds – “we might do more.”
For thousands of high school students in Burlington – McDonald’s is their first part time job.
“We used to donate to Ronald McDonald House but moved the $250,000 donation to the Joseph Brant Hospital where their donation is spread out over five years.
The national hiring target for McDonald’s was 6,500 – 2,700 of them in Ontario. Four people were hired in Burlington. Ryan Sgro does point out that they have a rosters of 101 people at their busiest location – Upper Middle Road and Guelph Line, with staff counts in the high 80’s in other locations.
“For us three things are important: how well our student employees are doing in school; how good their extracurricular life is and then McDonald’s” said Ryan.
Getting through that first interview is always awkward. A McDonalds manager takes a high school student through the process.
“We want to be the first work experience students have because we know we are providing a fun place to work where people work very hard and gain a strong work ethic.”
While the National Hiring program might be necessary in some communities – we don’t have a problem getting students to work with us. Our flexible scheduling works for the students.
Ryan Sgro is quick to add however that he could put at least for managers to work tomorrow.
